Andrea (CAN) and I closed our trip in a spectacular way after a week of camping, hiking and hitch hiking through the Andes by climbing Cotopaxi (5,897 m / 19,347 ft) in just 5 hours from our camping site.

Nobody summited Cotopaxi in the last two days and we made it!!. We left our tent 10 minutes before 2 am, and passed all the climbing teams on our way up. We got to see the crater for a while.

Got back to the refuge in 1 hour 20 minutes..wow! I really enjoy this climb!! :).

Climbed with Anna (RUS). We left from the refuge at 1:20 am, an hour after all of the other parties left. Very bad weather on our way up, very windy and extremelly cold.

But we enjoyed climbing up by the new route, which is completely different from the other routes I've climbed in Cotopaxi. It features very deep beautiful crevasses and huge seracs towering at both sides of the new route.

Got to the summit (5,897 m / 19,347 ft) at 7:20 am, stayed just 5 minutes at the top and rushed ourselves down before getting blown off the mountain :)

Climbed with Christine (FRA): We started at 1:30 am from the refuge. It was a warm night and the new fresh snow didn't get compacted enought. Crossed the thin large bridge crevasses before they collapse.

Got a radio call just 50 meters below the summit. I needed to leave Christine with Fausto (EC Guide) and go down to Yanasacha again (5,600 m) in order to guide Bernard up (FRA) to the summit (his guide wasn't feeling good).

Felt like climbing Cotopaxi twice. Bernard (68) and I joined the rest of the french team up at the summit (5,897 m / 19,347 ft). We were the only team that summited that morning.

Got back from the summit with Bernard and Michele. Bernard slipped down near the traverse below the summit. Michele and I got him.. uff!.

Once in Yanasacha platform Rafael(EC) roped up with Bernard and I did the same with Michele. It was already 11:30 am and the snow conditions were awful!.

We all had a hard time crossing the deep crevasses above 5,500 m. The ice bridges were weak and pierced by the other teams on the way down.

Crevasse crossing picture

Rafael and I fixed lines and crossed our clients to the other side of the crevasses. As I was the last to cross the bridges, I broke them in two, the last ladder felt down to the void. but it was attached by a fix rope to the lip of the crevasse.

Five minutes later we triggered an avalanch. Rafael felt a couple meters down but he self arrested on time.

The day couldn't be complete without a heavy thunderstorm. Thunder stroke a few kms away... kind of scary at times.

Very strong girls. We got to the summit at 6:15 am. Six hours 15 minutes after leaving the refuge. The last snow fall covered completely the trail above the glacier. I started breaking trail on fresh snow.

Saw other mountains from the summit (5,897 / 19,347 ft) as well as the crater. A fun climb!

Guided Jean Claude (FRA) and Cristel (FRA). We had great weather, startlit and windless. Left the refuge at 1:30 am and got to the summit (5,897 m / 19,347 ft) at 6:00 am. Five and a half hours of climbing.

Crevasses are getting bigger and snowbridges thinner. We waited one hour at the summit, enjoying of the views and the sunrise. Rafael and Ivan (Ecuadorian guides) joined us later along with their four french clients.

The sun melted the snow on our way down, it made our descent harder. There was a huge avalanche by the time we reached the glacier line.

My wishes came true. I thick layer of new fresh snow covered the whole volcano and its lowlands. We all got back to the parking lot in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm.

Climbed with Andreea (ROM) and Mehmet (TUR). Left the refuge at 1:00 am. Very enjoyable climb. Ice bridges on the crevasses were very stable and compacted even though the night was warm and windless.

Got to the summit at 7:30 am along with my two completely exhausted climbing partners. The fog difted away for a while and we could see the crater and a few peaks of the western cordillera. Got back to the refuge at 10:30 am.

- Some information:

Actually this is the very first route climbed back in the day by the first climbers. This route was climbable until January 2000 when huge deep crevasses featured on the way up, stopping climbers to reach the summit.

A new route was opened soon after, we called it “La Rompe Corazones” (heartbreaker).. I wonder why? :) It usually used to take up to 3 hours of constant activity to reach the 5,500 m by an almost 50 degree slope. We climbed and guided by this route for 9 years.

- Good and bad news:

The good new is, this route (Yanasacha) was recently opened again (May 2009). A very scenic route with many resting spots and boredless. It has many nice features, huge deep crevasses, ice bridges and the view of Yanasacha (black wall) from below. A very enjoyable climb!

The bad new is, new crevasses are showing up lately, cutting our way up and forcing us to search for alternative routes. Hope the mountain will get enough snow accumulation the following years in order to keep climbing by this impressive scenic route.

We couldn't even see the crater, but it was one of the best moments in my life, being up there with Andres (my brother) and a bunch of climbers and guides like Gaspar Navarrete and Gabriel Llano (+) who let us follow them up with generosity.

Gabriel Llano died years later while guiding a pitch in Cordillera Real Bolivia. It was great to share moments with him and the rest of climbers.

This was the beginning of countless trips to Cotopaxi. (My first time on Cotopaxi's top)